For those who are getting fit in preparation, a blogger I followed a while back called Jamie Scott was in the ChCh quake. He reported that cardio and running strength wasn't what helped him most. He said the most useful were lifting heavy things (he had to lift his car out of a crack in the road) and climbing (he climbed the neighbour's fence to feed and rescue his cat). He didn't really need to run anywhere, so there you go - that's what to focus on at the gym. He wrote a great blog post on his experience but sadly I can't find it.

I can't read all of these at this moment so forgive me if I am repeating the obvious, but I wanted to add my bit. I think in an all-out, life and death emergency situation, it is a bad idea to rely too much on advanced technology. This depends on stable infrastructure and you cannot know what will be damaged, or how much. AM radio is the best for communications, because it carries the furthest, is the simplest to repair and maintain, easiest to improvise if necessary, etc. I also like the idea of a crystal set as emergency fallback, but you should still have a proper hand-cranked radio or battery one with independent power supply. I think crystal radio kits can still be had from Jaycar. This is best because it should include a properly wound tuning coil and other bits to improve reception. All you need to add is earphones and a long aerial wire, which you can keep rolled up in your emergency kit. Of course, if you really want to return to nature, you can always go with a cat's whisker and a dirty copper coin.